Torn Pages
by Phoenixflame of Thunderclan
Summary: Alphys was an apprentice to the Royal Scientist W.D. Gaster. But, although she made mistakes in her life, it wasn't until a certain eighth human appeared that she realized that, maybe she isn't completely cut out to be a Royal Scientist. And this human is either going to lead her to a bright future she couldn't have imagined or destroy everything she ever worked for.
1. Chapter 1 Hapstablook

**Okay! First Undertale story! Wish me luck! Though I will say this, I am using each character's respective font and speaking style (if they speak in all caps like Papyrus then it's in all caps, no caps = no caps, Gaster speaks in caps wingdings, ect.) though I know fonts won't show up.**

Alphys held the orb carefully, though shakily. Just beyond her, her mentor watched intently. No one understood him but her and a few friends.

"CALM DOWN, YOU'LL DROP IT AT THIS RATE," Gaster called to her.

She took a deep breath and steadied her grip. Gaster nodded approvingly. She was in awe of the royal scientist, as she had seen his biggest successful experiment. He had managed to create souls for two skeletons, who now lived as Papyrus and Sans, and now she wanted to be just like him. What the orb was, she had no clue, but he was testing her on how well she could handle important experiments.

"OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH," he told her, and she placed the orb down again on its pedestal, sighing in relief. He smiled. "YOU'LL GAIN CONFIDENCE AS YOU GET MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE IN SCIENCE."

"Can I be dismissed today, Professor Gaster?"

"YOU KNOW YOU DON'T HAVE TO CALL ME THAT," HE SIGHED. "BUT YES, YOU MAY."

She nodded, grabbed her pile of notebooks, and hurried out of the door, nearly dropping her books on the way out. As soon as it closed behind her, she let them fall and smiled in victory of not making a total fool of herself where others could see her.

"Um... do you know the way to the nearest Nice Cream stand?" Someone asked her tentatively.

She jumped, silently cursing herself for thinking she was safe too quickly. "Um... I-I'm sorry, I don't tend to go far." Alphys turned to see a ghost floating quietly next to her. Her eyes were bright but one had what look like a bit of hair hanging over it.

"Oh, okay, thanks though." Something about her seemed... sad almost.

"Wait a second," she said before she could fly away. "Are you okay? What's your name?"

She looked down. "My cousins call me 'Hap', but most everyone else calls me, 'Hapstablook'. And two of my cousins left to go be dummies." She sighed. "We all want bodies, but they were so desperate."

A faint idea sparked in her mind. "Hey... you want a body?"

"Yeah," she murmured.

"I- I'm a scientist." _Barely..._ "I could help you. I- I could build you a body."

Her eyes brightened again. "R-really? You could do that?"

 _Maybe..._ "I- I could try."

She gave an excited twirl, then attempted to nudge Alphys with her head. "You're... you're so awesome... uh-"

"Alphys," she smiled.

She nodded. "Alphys. Should I talk to you again? When?" Suddenly the seemingly quiet ghost was full of energy, babbling out questions faster then Alphys could answer them. She rested her hand and the ghost's head.

"Look, I'll come to you if I need anything. How about we meet tomorrow at your house? Where do you live?"

"Near the Blook family farm," she answered. "Do you know where Undyne lives?"

"Who's-"

"Oh, you don't know Undyne. She's a bit... hotheaded. She's training with King Asgore," she added with a touch of pride. "She can be nice... but, we usually just stay away."

"Okay, how about this: I'll meet you at the farm tomorrow after my lessons, then we can talk about the design."

"Okay, see you later, Alphys!" Hap did another excited twirl in the air and rushed off and out of Hotland. Alphys smiled slightly. _Hopefully I don't ruin her life. I think I could grow to like her._

The next day, Gaster knew something was up. "YOU SEEMED DISTRACTED, ALPHYS," he said seriously. "IF YOUR GONNA BE THE NEXT ROYAL SCIENTIST, YOU NEED TO PAY MORE ATTENTION."

"Sorry. I was just thinking of something I saw yesterday." She wasn't letting Gaster know about the ghost's request in case she failed.

He watched her for a few more minutes before sighing and going back to doing whatever he does. She felt a prick of guilt for not telling her mentor about her latest project, but he didn't press the issue. After her lessons, she ran her stuff to Snowdin to the room she was renting until she got a room of her own, then to the famous Blook Family Snail Farm.

She had just stepped into the area when Hap rushed up. "I'm so sorry I was late. My cou-" She saw she just got there, and sighed in relief. "Oh good, I wasn't late. So, what do you have in mind?"

"Well... I was kinda thinking..." she pulled out a few blueprints. Hap's eyes grew.

"You'd... you'd really do this for me?" She asked after she showed the blueprints off.

"Sure. Of course."

"But... I barely know you! You would really do all of this?" Her voice dropped. "This'll be a debt I can't repay, you know that, right Alphys?"

"You don't have to. We'll get this all sorted out, don't you worry."

"It's finally finished!" Alphys cried, looking over the machine. It had taken many long nights of reading up on robotics and many tired evening classes with Gaster, but the body for Hapstablook was finally done. It certainly was feminine, with the hair-like piece over one eye, but was much more humanoid and one arm ended in a gun. It was completed with large wings.

She turned to look at the ghost, who's eyes glimmered with excitement. "Oh, thank you so much, Alphys!" She grinned at it for a moment before flying into it and disappearing. The machine blinked and slowly moved its head side to side, before testing each arm and leg in turn and each wing. Her excitement was endless now. "It works!" She gasped. "Does the machine have a specific name?"

"Yeah..." Alphys murmured.

"Well, what is it? I gotta show Blooky!"

She took a deep breath, then let it out and met the newly created robot's gaze. "Mettaton."


	2. Chapter 2 King Asgore

Gaster was messing with the shiny red orb again, eyeing it angrily. "Are you okay, Professor Gaster?" Alphys asked.

He made a growling noise. "YES, BUT I'D BE A LOT HAPPIER IF _SOMETHING_ ," he glared at the orb again. "WOULD COOPERATE."

"Is... there anything I could do?"

He sighed, shaking his head. "I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU ALSO. IN A FEW DAYS, KING ASGORE AND QUEEN TORIEL WANT TO VISIT TO SEE OUR RESEARCH. I WANT YOU TO MAKE YOURSELF PRESENTABLE. AND MAYBE..." He held out a... poster?

Alphys gasped. "Science fair?"

"I THINK YOU SHOULD ENTER. YOU COULD WHIP SOMETHING UP, COULDN'T YOU?"

He didn't need to ask. She knew exactly what she was going to do. _I need to find Hap- er, Mettaton._ "What about...?"

His smile faded. "PRINCE ASRIEL?"

She nodded.

He sighed. "NO ONE'S HEARD FROM HIM IN AWHILE. HECK, THE FIRST THING ANYONE'S HEARD OF FROM KING ASGORE IS THE MESSAGE TO ME."

"And Chara?"

He shook his head. "LOOK, DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DO THIS?"

"Of course, Professor Gaster. I won't let you down," she promised.

"GOOD."

The first thing she did when she stepped outside was give a tiny skip of happiness. She was going to meet King Asgore! Then her excitement faded. What if he wasn't impressed with Mettaton? A robot with a soul surely isn't _that_ impressive, right?

Despite this thought, she hurried back to Snowdin to drop of her stuff and back to Mettaton's house, which she showed her shortly after their first encounter. "Mettaton, you in there?" She called, knocking at the door. Instead of Mettaton opening it, however, it was another ghost. His eyes glimmered pitifully and hovered close to the ground.

He sighed. "Sorry, Hap's not here. She went out to do something, didn't tell me what. She wanted me to house-sit. Why do you need her?"

"I wanted to ask her something. What's your name, could you leave a message?"

The ghost sighed again. "Napstablook, and I guess."

"Could you tell her to meet me in Hotland tomorrow?"

Napstablook nodded, then shut the door again. _I hope he's trustworthy..._

Luckily, Mettaton seemed to get the message, and she was waiting outside the door as soon as Alphys left. She perked at the sight of her. "Hey Al- er..." She cleared her throat. "Darling! So nice to see you! I heard you needed me?"

Slightly confused at Mettaton's correction, she nodded. "Um... yeah. There is a science fair going on in a few days... King Asgore and Queen Toriel are gonna be there..."

Her eyes shone with amusement. "And you want me to be your science experiment?" She guessed.

"Y-yes..."

"Darling, of course! Anything for you."

"And also, I think it'd be a bit better..." She trailed off for a second before finding her words and speaking more fluently. "I want to give you an upgrade, a bit more..." she examined the robot before her. "Photogenic?"

"Of course, darling, anything. When should I show up then, hmm?"

"I-I'll meet you at the farm, is that okay?"

She nodded, striking a pose. "Also, great news, darling!"

"What's that, Mettaton?"

"I spoke to the office today and they said they'd love to feature me in one of their stories." Her eyes glimmered. "They said a robot with a soul is something they've never seen before!"

"Th-That's great! I'm happy for you!"

"And it's all because of you! That's why I'll help you. Is that all you needed?"

"Y-yes."

"Then until we meet again, darling!" And with that, she practically pranced away.

 **-Scene break**

"ALPHYS! SHOULDN'T YOU BE WORKING ON YOUR PROJECT?"Gaster called, still a bit angry at the orb.

"Yes, Professor, but I'm watching for one of my friends. She said she'd be on today."

He looked at her seriously. "YOU KNOW THAT THE FAIR'S TOMORROW, RIGHT?"

"Yes Professor. How about... you watch it with me?" _At least he'll get to see Mettaton._

He sighed and shook his head, but sat down to watch anyway. There she was! She was using her newest body, a rectangle with a small screen in front segmented into several tiny screens to make one picture. She didn't realize until now how much it looked like a calculator.

"WHAT'S THAT?"He asked, seeming a bit confused.

"That, Professor, is my project, Mettaton!" She couldn't keep her excitement under control much longer.

" _THAT_ IS YOUR PROJECT?"It looked like he couldn't be sure to be impressed or not.

"Yes, it's a robot, but it has a soul!"

"A _SOUL_?"

She shrunk back. Was that a bad thing? But her optimism returned when he smiled warmly at her and... _congratulated_ her? He pat her on the back and walked away. Suddenly, the channel on the television switched from the interview to a cartoon.

Freaking out, she tried in vain to change it, only to realize the remote's batteries were dead. Paralyzed for a few moments in fear that Gaster would see it and thinking the interview was a facade, she stared at it. It didn't seem bad, actually. It wasn't like a normal cartoon, it was much more highlighted and it featured humans.

Her horror turned to interest as she saw one of the humans show off a giant sword, light glinting off of it. She smiled. Of course, the moment vanished as Gaster came back in to check on her and she barely managed to scramble to the screen and get it back to the interview before he saw what she was watching.

Alphys got her first taste of anime.

"ALPHYS, SOMEONE'S AT THE DOOR FOR YOU,"He told her.

She nodded, trying to calm her pounding heart and made her way to the lab's door. When she opened it, her heart nearly stopped. It was King Asgore.

He looked almost... miserable. Tears matted the fur down to his chin and he seemed to force a smile at Alphys. "Oh, you must be Alphys, Professor Gaster's apprentice." His voice was deep, rumbling, and emotionless. She wish she knew what he thought of her.

"P-please c-come in, K-King Asgore," she nearly stumbled over herself saying.

"I'm afraid I have the worst news for Gaster," he murmured.

Alphys barely kept back a gasp at the amount of pain in the king's previously flat voice. "Is it about your son, Prince Asriel?"

"That is something I will share with Gaster," he told her without any sort of aggressiveness.

"Professor, King Asgore would like to speak with you!" She called into the main room of the lab.

Seconds later, he appeared. "KING ASGORE," he greeted formally.

Asgore looked at him, grief once again lighting his gaze so badly it seemed to piece Alphys's heart. "Prince Asriel and the human Chara have fallen down," he choked out. "And Toriel has left me."

Alphys couldn't bare to look at the amount of pain in Gaster's gaze. She had never seen this side of him. "YOU HAVE MY DEEPEST REGRETS, ASGORE. I AM SO SORRY."

"Thank you, Gaster."

They might have stayed there forever in shared grief...

If it weren't for Mettaton bursting through the door. "DARLING! DON'T BE IN SUCH GRIEF! PRINCE ASRIEL IS IN A BETTER PLACE, SURELY? AND YOUNG CHARA, OF COURSE CHARA WOULD BE NO WHERE OTHER THAN WITH THEIR FRIEND!" Did her voice get more robotic... and masculine?

Alphys jumped back, staring wildly around. "Mettaton! Don't do that!"

Asgore slowly turned to look at Mettaton. "Who is this... Gaster?"

Gaster looked at Alphys, a hint of pride rekindling in his gaze. "ALPHYS?"

"Th-this is my project, M-Mettaton!"

"FIRST ROBOT WITH A SOUL, NONETHELESS!" She announced.

"With a soul?" Asgore seemed even a bit interested in her. Mettaton struck a pose and gave her a do-you-think-they-like-me look. Alphys nodded, and she gave a tiny skip. "Well... the only other one who said he was coming was Sans, and I don't believe a word he says about it, so... do you think..." He looked at Gaster, who nodded, and he straightened himself. "Alphys, would you like to be the royal scientist? I mean, only someone truly gifted can create this," he motioned towards the robot, who struck another pose.

Her heart pounding, she looked at Gaster, who smiled warmly and nodded. Taking a deep breath, she slowly nodded. "Yes, King Asgore, I would like that more than anything."


	3. Chapter 3 The Gaster Blaster Experiment

As soon as Asgore left, Alphys looked to Gaster for instructions, but his gaze was still blank with grief at the news he brought. Mettaton waited nearby in case she was needed. All Gaster said to her, however, was, "COME."

She nodded without at word and motioned for Mettaton to stay, and she turned her gaze to examine the T.V. screen. The first thing he did was lead her up stairs to a small room. It was purely white with a white tiled floor, the paint on the walls peeling off a bit in some places. He turned to her. "NOW, SINCE I REALIZED YOU HAD TO TRAMP ALL THE WAY TO SNOWDIN, I DECIDED THAT ONCE YOU ASCENDED TO THE RANK OF ROYAL SCIENTIST, YOU WOULD NEED YOUR OWN ROOM NEAR THE LAB. WOULD YOU LIKE THIS ONE? IT WAS AN OLD TESTING ROOM WE DON'T NEED ANYMORE ANYWAY."

She smiled widely and nodded in acceptance.

"GOOD. AND NOW, I HAVE SOMETHING MORE... IMPORTANT... TO SHOW YOU." He lead the way downstairs again but this time to the right into a door before Mettaton noticed where they were. It was the room with the bathroom sign outside, and she never questioned it, but now she saw it was really an elevator, as blinding white as the room.

After he pressed a few buttons, the elevator descended. She wondered what it lead to. Maybe his room? That thought freaked her out, but not as much as the sight that greeted her. It was a large empty space, larger than the whole lab, enveloped in a green haze. It smelled like the chemicals used to preserve food. There were several shelves, all lined with various liquids and jars with various labels on them too far for her to read. "What is this place?"

He chuckled slightly. "DID YOU REALLY THINK I DID ALL MY EXPERIMENTS UP THERE? WERE ALL THE MONSTERS COULD SEE THEM?" He shook his head. "I WOULD GET FIRED IN AN INSTANT. I COULDN'T EVEN HAVE YOU SEE THEM UNTIL I KNEW YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO HANDLE IT."

"But what does _this_ room have to do with it?"

"CAN'T YOU SEE? THIS IS WHERE I DO THE EXPERIMENTS. THIS, IS WERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS."

Excitement seemed to bubble up inside of her. "What was your most recent experiment, Prof-" she caught herself in time, almost forgetting he was no longer a rank above her, but was her equal. "I mean, Gaster?"

He seemed slightly amused at her correction. "OH, YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE _THAT_ FAILURE. HOWEVER, I HAVE RECENTLY HAD A SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IT?"

"Of course, Gaster!"

Without another word, he simply snapped and it appeared at his side. It looked like a giant, skeletal dragon head, and she jumped back several paces, eyeing it carefully. "W-what is it, G-Gaster?"

"I'VE JUST BEEN CALLING IT A BLASTER UP UNTIL NOW, WHAT DO YOU THINK?"

"'Gaster Blaster', catchy."

He chuckled and snapped again, and the beast was gone. "ONLY ONE OTHER BEING CAN SUMMON THESE," he informed her.

"Who's that?" Alphys eagerly asked.

"HIS NAME IS SANS, SANS THE SKELETON."

She stopped. "Like, _the_ Sans? _The_ Sans you created a long time ago?"

He nodded. "THAT'S THE ONE."

With another glance around, Gaster herded Alphys back into the elevator. She had never been so glad in her life to smell the scents of the lab, including that smell of wet dog...

"HEY! YOU STUPID DOG!" Gaster exclaimed suddenly, stomping angrily towards the red orb he was examining earlier. Alphys noticed a fluffy white dog was gnawing on it. It's eyes widened tenfold and it fled the lab, orb still held securely in it's jaws. He chased it for a moment before giving up and glaring at it as it galloped away.

"Tough. What did it do anyway?"

"IT _WAS_ GOING TO HAVE TIME TRAVEL ABILITIES," he mumbled, sounding almost like a scorned first grader. "THAT WAS MY PROBLEM WITH IT. THAT DARN DOG KEPT TAKING IT."

She giggled, and he glared at her, silencing her. He couldn't stop the smile spread across the lizard's face. "So, anyway. Why did you let Sans have the Blasters as well?"

"HE HAD POTENTIAL, MORE SO THAN PAPYRUS. AND I THOUGHT, HEY? WHY NOT GIVE HIM SUCH A GREAT WEAPON TO HELP SHOW HIS REAL POWER? 'S GOOD AT IT TOO."

She opened her mouth to reply...

But Mettaton was, once again, first to seize the chance. "BEAUTIES! DON'T STRESS YOURSELVES ABOUT IT!"

Instead of a facepalm, Alphys shot her a glare and exclaimed, "Don't you have _anything_ better to do than hang around and say random things?"

"OF COURSE I DO, BUT THE SHOW DOESN'T START UNTIL 5:00," she snickered.

" _Then go to the station and_ wait! It's 4:30!"

"A.M." She corrected.

"P.M." Alphys mumbled with another glare at Mettaton, then a helpless glance at Gaster, who raised his hands innocently. It still unsettled her how you could see right through the two holes in his hands.

Gaster then stepped forward and put his hand on her shoulder, urging her away from the ghost-turned-robot. "YOU KNOW, IF I WERE YOU, I'D START SETTIN' UP MY ROOM. I HAVE SANS SCHEDULED TO COME OVER TOMORROW TO HELP YOU SETTLE IN TO YOUR NEW POSITION. HE'S A GREAT STRESS RELIEVER WHEN YOU NEED ONE."

She nodded, trying to decipher all the information contained in what he said and then set off again towards Snowdin, an extra hop in her step to think she finally had her own room. Not just that, but now co-royal scientist _and_ she met King Asgore himself. The only authority figure she had yet to meet was the head of the royal guard, which she had no clue of who it was. Gaster commented that he believed Asgore's apprentice, Undyne, would make the position, but as of now, she had seen no news on it.

She was stumbling out of the Snowdin inn when she saw a short, big-boned skeleton watching from afar. She was slightly unsettled, but however did not react.

Next time she looked, he was a few steps closer, a teasing glint in his eye socket. A small pinprick of light made up his pupil. "sup," he finally greeted.

Unable to reply, she stumbled with her books and nodded a short greeting, but he wasn't done yet. "heard your gaster's apprentice?"

Sighing, knowing she wouldn't get out of it, she set down her books and nodded, out of breath, at him. "Royal scientist," she corrected.

He looked thoughtful for many seconds, before nodding and walking off, opening a bottle of ketchup and, before her eyes, drank the whole bottle in one gulp, wiped his mouth, and continued off towards his house. She was baffled, still not knowing who the skeleton was or how he 'drank' a bottle of ketchup entirely. Just the thought made her gag, but he obviously enjoyed it. With another confused glance at where he went, she went back towards Hotland, looking over her back several times to make sure he wasn't following her.

 _Why do I have a feeling he's gonna keep bothering me?_


	4. Chapter 4 True Labs

"A MESSAGE FOR YOU, DR. ALPHYS," Gaster called, making Alphys jump and turn the television she got in her room off. _Last thing he needs to know is that I've been watching anime instead of science channels._ She was beginning to purchase anime merchandise, claiming the manga books were human history books to anyone who asked.

"Coming, Gaster!" She called back, scrambling to the door to find him waiting for her near the True Lab's entrance. He motioned for her to follow him into the elevator again and back down into the laboratory. "What is it?"

"HE WANTS US TO WORK ON SOMETHING. HE WANTS US TO FIND A WAY TO CREATE THE POWER TO FREE US FROM THIS PRISON. HE WANTS US TO HARNESS THE POWER OF THE SOUL."

"H-how?" She asked shakily.

"THAT'S WHAT HE WANTS US TO FIND OUT. COME ON, WE HAVEN'T MUCH TIME. KING ASGORE HAS COLLECTED TWO ALREADY."

It had been several years since she became one of King Asgore's royal scientists. "Then why does he need our help?"

"SIMPLE. IT HAS BEEN MANY YEARS SINCE THE LAST HUMAN FELL DOWN INTO THE RUINS. UNDYNE AND THE REST OF THE ROYAL GUARD ARE GETTING JUMPY, AND THE LOCAL MONSTERS ARE EAGER TO BE FREED FROM THIS PRISON."

"I-I'll do my best, Gaster."

-Entry Number 1:

This is it... Time to do what the King has asked me to do. I will create the power to free us all. I will unleash the power of the SOUL. -

Her first thought was, _that's impossible. Monster souls may be able to be grown..._ She glanced at Gaster's hands for proof. _But human souls can't. It would take nearly every soul in the underground to equal one human soul... how does he expect us to do this...?_ Despite this, her mind wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.

-Entry Number 2:

The barrier is locked by SOUL power.. Unfortunately, this power cannot be recreated artificially. SOUL power can only be derived from what was once living. So, to create more, we will have to use what we have now... The SOULs of monsters. -

If only it was possible to strengthen a monster's soul. Was there a way to take one human soul and make more of it? A horrid thought came to her.

-Entry Number 3:

But extracting a SOUL from a living monster would require incredible power... Besides being impractical, doing so would instantly destroy the SOUL's host. And, unlike the persistent SOULs of humans... The SOULs of most monsters disappear immediately upon death. If only I could make a monster's SOUL last... -

Gaster rarely spoke to her after giving her this assignment. When she wasn't watching anime or sleeping, she was often on her computer, while Gaster disappeared for entire days at a time. To talk with Sans was Alphys's only guess. Eventually, she got so fed up with doing research on humans and finding almost nothing, she went to the King's castle, making sure not to be seen. One day, she even found a pile of old tapes. Not a single one looked like it had been used, and none of them had video.

Just several of them had dialogue. Either between King Asgore and Queen Toriel or between Prince Asriel and the human Chara...

-Entry Number 4:

I've been researching humans to see if I can find any info about their SOULS. I ended up snooping around the castle... And found these weird tapes. I don't feel like ASGORE's watched them... I don't think he should. -

One night, unable to sleep, she stared blankly at the ceiling. What could she do? What did Asgore expect her to do? Suddenly, an idea came to her mind. She requested Asgore to send one of the contained human souls the next morning, and it came the following day. With Gaster finally helping her, she finally created a machine, looking almost exactly like a Gaster Blaster, and tested the soul in it.

-Entry Number 5:

I've done it. Using the blueprints, I've extracted it from the human SOULs. I believe this is what gives their SOULs the strength the persist after death. The will to keep living... The resolve to change fate. Let's call this power... "Determination." -

She extracted the "determination" from the two human souls and just managed to contain it all in glass jars. Power... such amazing power... Now... all she needed was a vessel. She couldn't hold all of it herself, and she would certainly not ask Gaster or Mettaton.

She considered for a moment to ask Sans, but if something went wrong, Gaster would never forgive her. Then, another idea came to her head. She contacted Asgore that very morning.

-Entry Number 6:

ASGORE asked everyone outside the city for monsters that had "fallen down". (She teared up for a moment after writing this) Their bodies came in today. They're still comatose... And soon, they'll all turn into dust. But what happens if I inject "determination" into them? If their SOULS persist after they perish, then... Freedom might be closer than we all thought. -

Taking a deep breath, each body she received- namely vegetoids; froggits; Shyren's sister, Lemon; and the mother of Snowy, Flayke- she injected a small dose of "determination" into, and waited hopefully. She promised the families of each that, after they turned to dust, she would return the ashes to their families.

-Entry Number 7:

We'll need a vessel to wield the monster SOULs when the time comes. After all, a monster cannot absorb the SOULs of other monsters. Just as a human cannot absorb a human SOUL... So then... What about something that's neither human nor monster? -

She thought long and hard on this. What in the underground is not human nor monster? At first, she thought it was an impossible task... then... she found something while researching.

-Entry Number 8:

I've chosen a candidate. I haven't told ASGORE yet, because I want to surprise him with it... In the center of his garden, there's something special. The first golden flower, that grew before all the others. The flower from the outside world. It appeared just before the queen left. I wonder... what happens when something without a SOUL gains the will to live? -

She carefully went to the King's garden, making sure he wasn't present, and gently potted the beautiful flower, caressing it's petals for a moment then hurrying back the Hotland. Gaster hadn't been back for weeks now.

After another week of watching and waiting, nothing happened.

-Entry Number 9:

things aren't going well. none of the bodies turned into dust, so I can't get the SOULs. i told the families that i would give them the dust back for the funerals. people are starting to ask me what's happening. what do i do? -

She was unable to even write properly her despair was growing so badly. She failed. She remembered to stay determined herself, and carefully began to re-dose the bodies. Still, nothing. It had been four weeks since she last saw Gaster.

Entry Number 10:

experiments on the vessel are a failure. it doesn't seem to be any different from the control cases. whatever. they're a hassle to work with anyway. the seeds just stick to you, and won't let go... -

Gaster finally reappeared, though only for a day to check on her progress. When he left again, she felt so lonely once more. He mentioned something about working on a machine with Sans, and that's why he's gone for so long at a time. She didn't expect to have his help much anymore.

-Entry Number 11:

now that mettaton's made it big, he never talks to me anymore. … except to ask when i'm going to finish his body. but i'm afraid if i finish his body, he won't need me anymore... then we'll never be friends again. … not to mention, every time i try to work on it, I just get really sweaty... -

While she was waiting for the "determination" to do SOMETHING, all she could do was reflect on what had happened to her. Every since Mettaton commented that her body just wasn't feminine, and she was beginning to lose all femininity. She said she might as well just call her a 'he'.

-Entry Number 12:

nothing is happening. i don't know what to do. i'll just keep injecting everything with "determination". i want this to work. -

She was beginning to lose all hope now. However much she wanted this to work, it just wouldn't. King Asgore was going to see she was a failure. She wouldn't be the royal scientist anymore... however, something extraordinary happened...

-Entry Number 13:

one of the bodies opened its eyes. -

Her first reaction was horror to see Flayke, who's eyes were closed, looking around. She _knew_ that her eyes were closed before. She'd seen the bodies dozens of times. But then, it came as a relief as the next day when she took the elevator down and saw all of them were alive. She was never able to get the souls, though...

-Entry Number 14:

Everyone that had fallen down... … has woken up. They're all walking around and talking like nothing is wrong. I thought they were goners...? -

She learned probably the nicest to be around was Lemon and Flayke. But... something was off about them. Luckily, they seemed to get more and more normal the longer this happened. Alphys was slightly agitated that her experiment didn't work the way she wanted it to. However, some good came out of it.

-Entry Number 15: Seems like this research was a dead end... But at least we got a happy ending out of it...? I sent the SOULS and the vessel back to ASGORE. And I called all of the families and told them everyone's alive. I'll send everyone back tomorrow. :) -

The next day, however, she was stunned in pure horror at what she saw. It was so horrible, she fell to the ground and broke out in tears. This couldn't be happening. It was a dream, surely?

-Entry Number 16:

no No NO NO NO NO -

She couldn't handle what was happening. The next entry, she hid in a place only she could get to it. Not even Gaster should know what had happened.

-Entry Number 17:

the monsters' physical forms can't handle "determination" like humans' can. with too much determination, our bodies begin to break down. everyone's melted together...

Each ground finally begin to solidify. Despite the fact Alphys could barely stand to look at them, she brought them food to survive, and gave the monsters a name. The "Amalgamates". Each one was given a specific name. Lemon became "Lemon Bread", Flayke's monster became "So Cold", the fusion of Froggits, Astigmatism, and Aaron made "Reaper Bird", and the group of several melted pieces of monsters became "Memory Heads". Not to mention, all the dogs fused together in a single beast, "Endogeny."

And then there was the "Everyman". He lived with Reaper Bird, and his strangely formed head attracted moths. One day, something would happen to make everything even worse, she could feel it. One day, however, as she entered her lab to feed them, she found another entry number 17 written entirely in wingdings. At that instant, she had the feeling something happened to Gaster. Luckily, she was among the few monsters that could understand him.

-ENTRY NUMBER 17:

DARK DARKER YET DARKER THE DARKNESS KEEPS GROWING THE SHADOWS CUTTING DEEPER PHOTON READINGS NEGATIVE THIS NEXT EXPERIMENT SEEMS VERY VERY INTERESTING... WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK? -

Who were these two, she often wondered. How did Gaster get into the lab since Alphys spent almost all of her time in the True Lab, sleeping. She became more and more jumpy, more and more nervous, more and more unsure of herself. Asgore gave her a strange piece of information, only adding to her horror. She never answered anything anymore.

-Entry Number 18:

the flower's gone. -

When she was told that, she felt the weirdest, most indescribable feeling ever. Like... almost as if the whole world was given to the hands of a single being.

-Entry Number 19:

the families keep calling me to ask when everyone is coming home. what am i supposed to say? i don't even answer the phone anymore. -

Pretty soon, she had drawers full of unopened letters to her about the Amalgamates. No one was able to come down into the lab. She even took out the mail slot on the door of the lab, but the letters kept coming, now under the door. What could she do? She couldn't face the world. She couldn't face her failure. And worst of all, Mettaton never even asked about her once.

-Entry Number 20:

ASGORE left me five messages today. four about everyone being angry. one about this cute teacup he found that looks like me. thanks asgore.

Finally, she felt like she found a place were she could belong. The most empty place in all of the underground, where there were no letters, no Amalgamates, no other monsters in general. At least, that's what she thought.

-Entry Number 21:

i spend all my time at the garbage dump now. it's my element.

One day... however, she was disturbed by the horrid stench of rotting fish. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. She had gotten used to to odor of the True Labs, but rotting fish was another story. Although she only expected something like a dead fish in the garbage, it was something much worse.

" **OUR LEADER! UNDYNE HAS BEEN INJURED!"**


	5. Chapter 5 Undyne

_**A/N:**_ **Okay, I'm gonna get this straightened out right now. I highly dislike the Alphys/Undyne ship. I mean, like, a lot. But, however -sighs- it's cannon, and I'm not going to ignore cannon. This story is supposed to explain my thoughts on what happened during the more important events of Alphys's life, so I won't forget what's cannon, so, I have to go with it.**

Alphys ran over to were the call came from, and slipped into a pile of garbage before they could see her. It was an armored knight who called out, on the other side of him was another knight with a more narrow helmet. In between them, they supported what she recognized as Undyne, the leader of the Royal Guard. She drew in a sharp breath as she looked at her. Alphys never expected to meet her, but especially not like this.

Her normally blue scales were slick and red with blood, many wounds scarred her, though most seemed like they were scars from earlier battles. Worst of all, her hand was held up covering her left eye, which is were most the blood seemed to be coming from.

Despite the wounds, Undyne still seemed to be fighting to let the guards stand on her own, but they refused, knowing she probably wouldn't be able to and they couldn't risk further injury. Alphys's first reaction was fear. She knew nothing about healing!

Frantically, she searched her mind. Who would know anything about healing? Her heart seemed to stop. _Toriel!_ But every monster knew that she disappeared shortly after King Asgore announced the death of their son Prince Asriel and the human Chara. _Where would she be now?_ But she knew there wasn't any time to search.

What about... _Sans? Surely he picked something up from Gaster? After all, he said he knew some stuff about healing._ But Undyne needed help now...

Taking a deep breath, Alphys stepped out from the garbage pile, watching the two knights attempt to bring her to safety to the nearest town. She ran to catch up to them. "Wait!" She called, then she stopped herself. What if one of the guards were one of the monsters who had sent her the bodies of the "fallen down" monsters? She couldn't let that happen. She couldn't face that possibility.

What about Napstablook? Okay, maybe he wasn't the smartest option, but surely he was better than nothing? And besides, he had cousins, didn't he? Surely _someone_ he knew could heal? That was her best hope. Careful to avoid the guards, she ran as fast as she could to the ghost's house and found herself pounding on his door.

He answered the door a few moments later and, sounding as depressed as other, he gave a murmured, "Oh, hey Alphys." 

"Napstablook! D-Do you know anything about healing? O-or," she continued before he could answer. "Anyone who knows anything about healing?"

He was silent for several moments, blinked slowly several times, before glancing at someone over her shoulder. "Maybe she does."

She turned around, expecting to see someone who's family member fell down, or even one of the Amalgamates themselves, but it was another monster she had never expected to see. That made two in one day.

"T-Toriel!"

"Yeah, she's one of our regulars. She comes here quite often to buy snails. Hey, Toriel."

"Oh! Napstablook!" She blinked, surprised. "Is this your friend?" She slowly turned her gaze to Alphys, who waved nervously. Her gaze darkened slightly. "Dr. Alphys?"

"H-Hi Qu- er... T-T-Toriel," she stammered.

Her gaze brightened again. "I didn't know you liked snails."

Suddenly, her mind snapped back to the task at hand. "Toriel! Do you know anything about healing?"

She sighed sadly, though it was beyond her why she would be sad. "Yes, why do you ask? Are you injured?"

"N-no! Undyne- Do you know her? In charge of the Royal Guard?" Toriel nodded.

"I knew her back when she started training with _Asgore_." She spat out the word 'Asgore' with venom in her voice.

"She's been injured. They're on their way to Snowdin?"

She blinked. "Snowdin? Why?"

"I-I don't know. But do you think you can help her?"

Her eyes fire up. "Of course I can."

Napstablook slowly shut his door again, realizing he wasn't needed, Alphys presumed, and her and Toriel took off towards Snowdin. Of course, Undyne was still fighting to be let go of. "I can walk on my own!" She protested, ending with a groan of pain.

It was the narrow-helmeted guard who noticed them. "Toriel!" He called. "Undyne, she can heal you."

"I don't need healing!" She spat. "I need to get back to the fight!"

"Feisty," murmured the other guard, earning a one-eyed glare from his leader.

Toriel bent down to examine her eye wound. "What caused it?" She asked.

"Human," the first guard answered. "Shot her."

Gently, Toriel placed her hand on Undyne's hand and moved it away from her eye, looking at it. Undyne tensed up, but didn't flinch away. Something about that made Alphys admire her that much more, but she couldn't help cover her eyes. The wound brought back too many memories.

Particularly about a certain Amalgamate situation.

She heard Toriel's gentle laughter. "It's okay, Dr. Alphys. You can look now."

Slightly embarrassed, she moved her hands away from her eyes. She still had blood running down her cheek, though it didn't seem as bad. Toriel's healing magic seemed to have worked. At the time, Toriel was fitting a rough bandage around her head, covering her eye from further injury.

Undyne struggled to her feet and touched the eye patch, then flashed a small smile of gratitude at Toriel. "I-I feel a bit guilty I couldn't do anything," Alphys murmured to herself. Toriel placed her hand on her shoulder, smiling.

"Don't worry about it. Would you mind walking with me back to the snail farm?" Although it was obvious that she was trying to make her feel better, at that moment, Alphys didn't care, and graciously took the goat-monster's hand, letting her guide her back towards Waterfall. Right now, she felt like she just wanted to go to her home in Hotland.

But even as she did, every step she took away with Toriel, every step away from Undyne, made her heart ache, although she had no idea why.


	6. Chapter 6 The Human

_**A/N:**_ **I have to stop and say thank you to all my wonderful readers! You guys are great! And especially Mantha065! The reason I'm writing this chapter is 'cause of your amazing comments filling me with...**

 **DETERMINATION**

 **Sorry, just had to throw that in there XD. Hope you enjoy ;)**

 **Also... please forgive me if I don't get all the quotes exactly right, because I haven't bought the game, my brother has, and I can't replay it to check every quote from the characters. Hopefully, most quotes I can remember.**

Alphys was hiding more of her mangas. In the distance, the large screen of the lab was playing, of course, what else? Anime. She was doing a pretty good job so far, it seemed, of hiding the fact she'd rather be in her room, watching anime than downstairs, tending to the monsters she created in the True Labs or actually doing work. Although she felt the slightest pinprick of guilt that she had such an important position but her heart wasn't in it anymore, she dismissed this feeling by telling herself that King Asgore had no further orders. He had six souls, and the underground was waiting eagerly for the arrival of the seventh human that he could harvest to free them.

Word was being spread that Gaster's creation, Papyrus, was hoping of joining the Royal Guard. In reality, instead of training him for the possibility, Undyne decided to give him cooking lessons. Lately, Undyne had been visiting Alphys often to watch "human history" which is basically anime given a different name by Alphys.

But this day... several years after Undyne became half blind... something was different.

Alphys almost never showed her face to the public. She couldn't face what the monsters would say if they recognized her from the failed Amalgamate experiment. Earlier on in that year, she had several cameras set up everywhere around the Underground, just in case of what? Alphys had no clue. As soon as she finished labeling all her mangas, she made her way down the (recently installed mind you) escalator to the bottom floor.

She changed the channel to check her cameras before going back to Mew Mew Kissy Cutie when she saw it. Well, more like heard a scratching at the old door near Snowdin. No one knew what it went to, but only that humans tend to come out of there before meeting their untimely demise at the hands of Asgore or one of his strongest monsters.

But there was something different about this one. As soon as she saw the human she had the same feeling all those years ago when she found out the flower was gone. Like... the fate of the whole world was handed into the clutches of a single being.

Not to mention this single being was only a child, and didn't wield a weapon of any sort, but a _stick_. Not a speck of dust was visible on this human's blue and purple shirt or short brown hair. Interested, she forgot about the show and watched as the human looked around slowly, eyes narrowed with determination.

Her blood felt like it was freezing in her veins.

Determination.

The human continued forward after several moments of looking around and made their way to Snowdin. Did the human already know the way to Snowdin? How is that possible? Undyne knocked at the door of her lab, and Alphys jumped.

"C-c-come in!" She called.

Undyne slammed open the door with her huge smile, which dropped after seeing what Alphys was watching. "A _human_? There's another one?" She demanded. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"W-well I-I knew you would c-c-come over, and I f-figured I would t-tell you then."

Her magic spear appeared slowly in Undyne's clenched fist. She obviously wouldn't forget the human that shot her in the eye. "What's this one's name?"

"I d-don't know y-yet."

Undyne approached the screen and stared at it for a second. "Where are they headed?"

"S-Snowdin."

She snorted, then smiled slightly. "I guess it's good to see how Papyrus takes seeing a human. Looks like they've met Sans already," she commented.

Turning back to the screen, she saw the two talking like they were old buddies.

"i'm sans. sans the skeleton," Sans greeted, the whoopie cushion clearly visible in his hand after the prank. "who are you?"

The human watched Sans for many moments, and Alphys began to wonder if they were mute, but the murmured response came after a while. "Chara."

Alphys covered her mouth in shock, while Undyne drew in a sharp breath. But... Chara was dead... Sans's eye sockets flashes for a split second, such tiny flash that it was almost impossible to see, and Alphys wondered if she imagined it. Turning away from the screen and towards Undyne, she began to whisper urgently to her. Surely this couldn't be _the_ Chara, right?

 _ **-Meanwhile, in a different time line...**_

Alphys felt a creeping sensation. She felt like she needed to do something, but what? It didn't become clear to her until after she watched the human step out from the door. She watched shakily. Something was really wrong with this one, but what? Their blue and purple clothes were absolutely coated in dust, and they held a small, dust covered toy knife.

Wait... that knife looked dented and splintered off in a few paces. Her heart seemed to stop. This human killed monsters with that toy knife! But how...? Then, she caught sight of a small tuft of white fur stuck in a few of the splintered off pieces, and tears sprung into her eyes. That human killed Toriel!

Blinking, she tried to remember what the task was at hand. Maybe it was an accident? Shakily, Alphys turned to Undyne, who's only eye was wide with shock as she realized what the human had done. "Undyne," she gasped, trying to keep her voice steady. "Tell King Asgore!"

Nodding, the fish-like monster charged off towards the back door of the lab, towards the Core and towards their king. Alphys took a deep breath and went straight to her computer, hurriedly typing into it. She was just close enough to the screen to pick up the conversation between the human and Sans. "ah, the whoopie cushion in the hand trick. works every time."

No response.

"um... that's your cue to laugh..."

Silence.

"or... emote at all?"

The human didn't reply.

"okay. i guess every person has their own sense of humor."

Tears running down her face again, Alphys grabbed a stack of printed papers and ran all the way to Snowdin. She had to get them out! The town was still full of monsters when she arrived. No sign of the human. To each monster she encountered, she told what was happening and where they should go. Most of them nodded seriously. A few left notes to the human.

 _Please don't hurt my family._

Closed signs were soon hung on every shop. Once the monsters where all safely on their way to Hotland, she closed her eyes, praying that this human didn't hurt any more monsters. Instead of running like the rest, she hid in a bush until the beast went by. Their eyes gleamed with satisfaction and blood lust, their weapon held tightly in their dust covered hand.

They were muttering something, their eyes flashing red. "You weakling, Frisk. You pathetic whelp. It's time for the real ruler to take charge." They adjusted their grip on the toy knife and shifted the faded ribbon present in their hair, then advanced, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.


	7. Chapter 7 Chara and Frisk

_**-Pacifist**_

 __Still slightly unnerved by the sudden appearance of the thought-to-be dead human Chara, Alphys decided to go to Snowdin after they left. Maybe Sans knew something about it. But then again, that wasn't the only reason she wanted to talk to Sans. She also wanted to know if he knew what happened to Gaster. She was grabbing a packet of noodles when Mettaton barged in.

"YOU NEEDED ME FOR SOMETHING, DR. ALPHYS?" He questioned.

Nervously, Alphys glanced at the screen, which, as always, had the human on. At this moment, they seemed to be talking to somebody... Papyrus? He was sending his waves of bones at Chara, who effortlessly dodged each one, even with their visible soul blue, then nodded to Papyrus to try again. They were sparing him. Papyrus seemed slightly reluctant, then smeared MTT brand bone cologne behind his ear, before realizing he didn't have ears and freaking out.

"C-could you p-pretend to... h-hunt down the h-human and try to kill them? Not actually kill them but pretend to it would be really great-," she began to blurt out.

Mettaton's screen turned into a large question mark.

"I-I mean... C-c-could you l-like h-hunt them down-"

"SO YOU CAN APPEAR AS A HERO?" It didn't occur to Alphys how arrogant the request sounded until she heard her friend say it, and she lowered her head.

"I-I guess..."

He looked away, his screen blank small rectangles of red and white, and she began to shuffle her feet awkwardly. Eventually, his screen became a single check mark. "OF COURSE, DARLING! AS MY THANKS TO YOU FOR MY LATEST BODY!"

She let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding and smiled shyly at him. "T-thanks M-Mettaton! I-If you d-don't mind. I-I'm gonna g-go to Snowdin to talk to S-Sans."

"GO AHEAD, DARLING!" Mettaton sped out the door, turned backwards, waved at Alphys, then took off.

Adjusting her lab coat, Alphys made her way towards Snowdin, careful to stay out of the way of Chara. She didn't want to meet them _just_ yet.

 _ **-Scene Break**_

"human? yeah, i've talked to the human. why?"

Dumbfounded, Alphys stared at Sans, his ever present smile plastered onto his face. " _Chara_." She reminded him.

He shrugged. "so?" he winked. "it's a small world, eh?"

"No! Can't you see? T-This _can't_ be Chara! Chara died a long time ago!" She turned, holding back tears when she felt Sans's boney hand on her shoulder.

"gaster?" He guessed what she was thinking perfectly.

Wordlessly, she nodded.

He sighed, closing his eye sockets. "time travel experiment went wrong." He shuddered. Alphys had never seen him so serious... and punless.

She nodded sadly. They both had strong connections with him, and Alphys still felt his absence, even after all these years, pricking at her constantly. "S-so about the h-h-human." She shook her head. "How's Papyrus after his fight with them."

Sans opened his 'eyes' again, snickering. "well, shortly afterwards, paps felt compelled to go on a "date" with them."

That explains the bone cologne. Alphys held back a childish giggle at Papryus's innocence. "How'd that end up?"

"blew his mind. they found his spaghetti. you can guess how that ended up."

"How's his cooking going?"

"almost edible," he winked.

With a nervous chuckle, Alphys suddenly got the sensation to get home as soon as possible. She smiled and nodded at Sans and made her way back to Hotland. _What's going on?_

 _ **-Genocide...**_

 __"We're gonna die," whimpered one of the monsters.

"Is everyone here?"

In the middle of the crowd, some monster was crying in fear, only to be shushed by one of the older ones. However much Alphys didn't want to face up to her mistakes, it was for the greater good.

"M-maybe, if I die, I'll get to be with Snowy again," Chilldrake said to an older snowflake like monster, who nodded.

She knew only too well who the monster was. His son was killed by the monstrosity, and know he was about to see what happened to his fallen down wife.

True Labs was the only safe place left for the monsters. Towards the back of the group, watching for the human, Undyne held her magic spear tightly in her hand. The only name Alphys knew the beast by was Frisk, since that was the name they had muttered in Snowdin.

"Why is it so hot?"

"That's because it's Hotland, my child."

"I wanna go home!"

She could barely keep herself from covering her ears from the terrified whimpers going around the monsters. "Where are we going?" Undyne asked her, running up temporarily to ask Alphys.

"The lab," she answered, the palms of her hands beginning to sweat in fear of what was ahead.

"Are you sure that's safe?"

"I know a safe spot."

For a moment, Undyne was silent, looking at her spear. Despite the strong fishy smell coming from her, Alphys no longer cringed from her. In fact, the smell merely tickled her nostrils and she learned to really begin to enjoy it. When she looked up again, however, the determined look Undyne gave her terrified her. She had seen so much grief in her life. The last thing she needed was for Undyne to join the Amalgamates.

Undyne was the only monster she could talk to now. Ever since Frisk killed Sans's brother, Papyrus, she hadn't seen him, and began to wonder if he was still alive. After all, how can any monster survive when someone like Frisk is on the loose?

"Let me fight them!" Undyne demanded.

Taken aback, Alphys jumped, staring at her in terror. "You can't!" She gasped. "They'll k-kill you t-too!"

"I'm the head of the Royal Guard," she reminded her stubbornly. "I can take on a single human."

Alphys's gaze drifted towards her eye patch. Undyne shifted her position so it wasn't visible anymore.

"That's a different case!" She snapped. "They had a gun!"

"And this one has a knife," Alphys reminded her, marveling at how her voice did not shake, and how she did not stutter.

"A _toy_ knife! Look, Alphys. I _won't_ lose to this one!"

She sighed. "I-I guess, Undyne. But look, i-i-if you feel like they- _it_ , is too much for you, no one will blame you if you flee." 

"Alphys," she growled.

"Okay, okay. Just... be careful... alright?"

She sighed. "Alright... though you know I'll be fine."


	8. Chapter 8 The Quiz Show

_**A/N:**_ **Okay! Wish me luck! Remember, please forgive me for any wrong dialogue, since I am simply going by memory. (believe me, I tried everything except YouTube and actually having to replay the game to get the exact quotes.) If anyone knows of a website or fanfiction that has all of the quotes, please P.M. Me about it! It would be a great help! I think you guys will probably be able to tell what parts I found the quotes for and which parts I didn't. Ugh! Now I'm so worried that I'll get a whole bunch of details wrong! Oh my gosh! I'm turning into Alphys! For crying out loud, you guys don't want to hear me freak out. You want the chapter, right? I don't care what your answer was, here ya go.**

 _ **-Pacifist**_

 __The first thing Alphys did when she got back to the lab was make sure that everything was still there. Every one of her books lay untouched, the human's image being tracked on the screen. She sighed. What was that feeling back in Snowdin then?

Then she understood. "Th-their in Hotland!" She exclaimed to herself. She rushed to the back door and unlocked it, knowing that the rest of Hotland lay in between them and the Core, and then, King Asgore. Behind her, she heard the door open, and she jumped. She flipped around and saw the purple-and-blue shirted human, Chara.

"Oh! You're here! I didn't expect you to come so quickly!" She temporarily panicked, looking around in dismay at every tiny detail that wasn't perfect, before slowing down to look at the human nervously. "H-hi! I'm Alphys, the Royal Scientist. B-but, I'm not one of the 'bad guys'." Just saying that almost made her cringe. She wasn't sure she wanted that title anymore, and wasn't sure that the monsters would take kindly to being called bad when they all were, in fact, good.

Well, except for Jerry maybe.

"Chara," said the human formally.

She didn't realize until now how strange it would be to call the human a 'they' or 'it', but she really didn't want to ask what gender they were. She pondered over this for a moment before thrusting away the thought entirely and just going along with the plan. "H-hey, I j-just wanted to warn you. R-recently, I made an entertainment robot." More like "forever and a half ago", but she wasn't sure what kind of time the surface ran by. "called M-Mettaton. B-but, after a while, I decided to make him m-more useful. And b-by that I mean," was she the only monster who launched into conversation as soon as they met, but the expression completely void of any emotion but determination gave her no clue. "I g-gave him some human hunting capabilities. B-but then I saw you," she rushed before Chara think her to be a sick human-hunting monster. "And I-I tried to disable that. B-but I must've messed up s-somewhere. S-so now he's..." she took a deep breath. "a killing machine with a thirst for human blood?"

The human looked slightly taken aback, which sort of please Alphys. At least the human _could_ show emotion.

"B-but don't worry. Th-the chances of you m-meeting him are v-" she was cut off by a loud crash.

Then another. "Uh, d-don't worry."

Then another. "Oh no," she murmured.

"OHHH YES!" At that moment, Mettaton burst through the wall leaving a huge hole only a few feet deep. Alphys wondered for a moment how long he had been back there. "WELCOME BEAUTIES... … TO TODAY'S QUIZ SHOW! OH BOY! I CAN ALREADY TELL IT'S GONNA BE A GREAT SHOW! EVERYONE GIVE A BIG HAND FOR OUR CONTESTANT!" He waited for a second as if a crowd was clapping before continuing. "NEVER PLAYED BEFORE, GORGEOUS?"

Chara shook their head.

"NO PROBLEM! IT'S SIMPLE! THERE'S ONLY ONE RULE. ANSWER CORRECTLY..." the whole lab went silent. "OR YOU DIE!"

Alphys was biting her lip, hoping that Mettaton really wouldn't like he promised.

"LET'S START WITH AN EASY ONE!"

On the screen of the lab, a large answer board appeared. The question was on top. _What's the prize for answering correctly?_

A: Money

B: Mercy

C: New Car

D: More Questions

Chara looked slightly overwhelmed. "B: Mercy?" they guessed.

"HAHAHA! YOU WISH! WRONG!" Mettaton blasted them with a huge laser, and they fell to their knees for a second before standing, looking wide-eyed at the robot, then at Alphys.

Frantically, she wondered if Mettaton really would kill the human.

"NO MATTER! I'LL GIVE YOU A FREE PRIZE!"

The next question appeared. _What's the king's full name?_

A: Lord Fluffybuns

B: Fuzzy Pushover

C: Asgore Dreemurr

D: Dr. Friendship

Alphys made a "C" motion with her hands. The human nodded. "C: Asgore Dreemurr?"

"CORRECT! WHAT A TERRIFIC ANSWER! ENOUGH ABOUT YOU. LET'S TALK ABOUT ME!

 _What are robots made out of?_

A: Hopes&Dreams

B: Metal&Magic

C: Snips&Snails

D: Sugar&Spice

Alphys made a "B". "B: Metal&Magic?" The human guessed, sounding much more confident.

"TOO EASY FOR YOU, HUH? HERE'S ANOTHER EASY ONE FOR YOU!"

Chara puffed their chest out, looking like they knew it already, then instantly deflated at the question.

 _Two trains, Train A and Train B, simultaneously depart Station A and Station B. Station A and Station B are 252.5 miles apart from each other. Train A is moving at 124.7mph towards Station B, and Train B is moving at 253.5mph towards Station A. If both trains departed at 10:00AM and it is now 10:08, how much longer until both trains pass each other?_

A: 31.054 minutes

B: 16.232 minutes

C: 32.049 minutes

D: 32.058 minutes

She nearly smiled at the fact she knew something they didn't, and made a "D" motion.

"D: 32.058 minutes."

"WONDERFUL! I'M ASTOUNDED, FOLKS!" Then he took a darker note to his voice. "DON'T 'COUNT' ON YOUR VICTORY..."

 _How many flies are in this jar?_

A large jar appeared on the screen with dozens of small dots inside. The numbers for the answers rapidly went up.

A: 54+

B: 53+

C: 55+

D: 52+

She quickly made an "A" with her hands before Chara could get overwhelmed.

"A:... um... a."

"CORRECT! YOU'RE SO LUCKY TODAY! LET'S PLAY MEMORY GAME."

 _What's monster is this?_ It showed half of Froggit's face.

A: Froggit

B: Whimsun

C: Moldsmal

D: Mettaton's

Chara looked about to say "A", but Alphys quickly did the "D" gesture. If she knew Mettaton...

"D: Mettaton?"

The picture zoomed out to reveal Mettaton wearing a shirt with Froggit on it, and Alphys inwardly facepalmed.

"I'M SO FLATTERED YOU REMEMBERED! BUT CAN YOU GET THIS ONE?"

 _Would you smooch a ghost?_

A: Heck Yeah

B: Heck Yeah

C: Heck Yeah

D: Heck Yeah

Alphys sighed. If Chara couldn't figure this one out, they certainly were a dunce. "Um... Heck Yeah?"

"GREAT ANSWER! I LOVE IT! HERE'S A SIMPLE ONE."

 _How many letters in the name Mettaton? Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn._ The N's continued around the screen to form a border of N's.

A: 11+

B: 6+

C: 8+

D: 10+

Guessing herself, Alphys made the "C" motion since the original number, 8, was how many it had originally.

"C: 8."

"OF COURSE THAT WAS EASY FOR YOU! TIME TO BREAK OUT THE BIG GUNS!"

 _In the dating simulation video game "Mew Mew Kissy Cutie" what is Mew Mew's favorite food?_

Unable to control herself, Alphys instantly burst out into a speech about it, waving her hand for effect. "OH! OH! I KNOW THIS ONE! IT'S SNAIL ICE CREAM! IN THE FOURTH CHAPTER EVERYONE GOES TO THE BEACH! AND SHE BUYS ICE CREAM FOR ALL OF HER FRIENDS! BUT IT'S SNAIL FLAVOR AND SHE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO WANTS IT! IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS OF THE GAME BECAUSE IT'S ACTUALLY A VERY POWERFUL message about friendship and..." She stopped when she saw Mettaton looking at her and shaking his head.

"ALPHYS, ALPHYS, ALPHYS. YOU AREN'T HELPING OUR CONTESTANT, ARE YOU? OOOOOOH! YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME. I'LL ASK A QUESTION... YOU'LL BE SURE TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO!"

She felt her heart pounding in her chest in fear of what he was going to ask.

 _Who does Dr. Alphys have a crush on?_

A: Undyne

B: Asgore

C: The human

D: Don't know

Terrified and confused on why Mettaton asked that question, she frantically waved her hands to tell Chara to stop. Chara gave a faint smile. "Undyne," they said confidently.

Wide-eyed, Alphys felt herself blush deeply and bury her face in her hand. Why did he ask that question?

"SEE, ALPHYS? I TOLD YOU IT WAS OBVIOUS. EVEN THE HUMAN FIGURED IT OUT. YES, SHE SCRAWLS HER NAME IN THE MARGINS OF HER NOTES. SHE NAMES PROGRAMMING VARIABLES AFTER HER. SHE EVEN WRITES STORIES OF THEM TOGETHER... SHARING A DOMESTIC LIFE. PROBABILITY OF CRUSH: 101 PERCENT. MARGIN OF ERROR. ONE PERCENT."

Was it really that obvious? This human who barely knew her had guessed right! Then again, every choice there had an ounce of truth in it. Well, except maybe the human. She didn't feel anything towards them.

"WELL WELL WELL. WITH DR. ALPHYS HELPING YOU... THE SHOW HAS NO DRAMATIC TENSION! WE CAN'T GO ON LIKE THIS! BUT. BUT! THIS WAS JUST THE PILOT EPISODE! NEXT UP, MORE DRAMA! MORE ROMANCE! MORE BLOODSHED! UNTIL NEXT TIME, DARLINGS...!" And, waving with hints of glee that he had gotten Alphys so freaked out, Mettaton left the building.

Alphys laughed nervously at Chara. "That last question... he wasn't supposed to ask that one."

 _ **-Genocide**_

 __" _My kid! My kid is missing!_ " The scream of a recently evacuated monster ran through the crowd. They had entered the lab, and Alphys was about to take them into the True Labs. However much she wanted to delay the inevitable, she knew she would have to take them down. Right now, she was checking to make sure she had everyone.

"What does he look like?" Alphys asked the panicking monster.

"He's g-goldish, with no arms and he wears stripes," she was crying too hard to give a proper explanation.

Alphys forced a smile and lay her hand on her shoulder. "D-don't worry. We can find him. I-I have cameras all over the Underground." she managed to herd her towards the screen and began to check each camera. The last one made her freeze in fear.

"Oh-oh man. Wh-what would Undyne do?" is was the kid.

And he was with Frisk.

"U-um. S-stop, human!"

Frisk's cold eyes blazed with anger at the puny monster before them. They stepped forward threateningly, and although the kid flinched, he did not back away from the beast. They raised the toy knife and thrust it in the direction of the kid, and the flash of a dying monster whited the camera for a moment.

The monster beside Alphys started crying even harder, until she saw who took the hit. Then it was Alphys's turn to cry.

"U-Undyne! Y-you're hurt!"

"Hurt?" she gave a half-smile. "It's nothing." But despite the Captain of the Royal Guard's brave words, the fatal wound was obvious on her chest, and although it might've been just a scratch to the kid's eyes, her agony was obvious in every word she said. "Next time, listen when I tell you to leave, okay?"

"Undyne... I..."

"I'll take care of this! Get out of here!" Shaking, the kid slunk away, and Undyne let her agony show.

Alphys stifled a whimper as Undyne's feet began to dissolve into dust.

"...heh... "it's nothing"... No... s-somehow, with just one hit... I'm already... already..." she sighed. "D-damn it... Papryus... Alphys..." she stiffened as she heard her dying friend and, Alphys finally gave up, crush, speak her name. "... ASGORE... Just like that, I... I've failed you." Alphys ran her hand over the screen, wishing now more than ever she could be there, comforting the dying monster. Suddenly, she watched as her best friend and biggest crush burst into a cloud of dust, and Alphys fell to the ground, tears running down her cheeks.

"You haven't failed me, Undyne," she whispered, too low for the monster next to her to hear. But Undyne wasn't finished yet.

"No... My body... it feels like it's splitting apart." She looked up quickly to see that the cloud of dust had halfway reformed to create her torso up again. "Like any instant... I'll scatter into a million pieces. But..." Undyne's eye took on a terrifying glow. "Deep, deep in my soul. There's a burning sensation I can't describe."

"No," Alphys whimpered, knowing exactly what was happening. "Undyne... you promised..."

"This isn't just about monsters anymore, is it?" She closed her eyes. "If you get past me, you'll... you'll destroy them all, won't you? Monsters... Humans... Everyone... Everyone's hopes. Everyone's dreams. Vanquished in an instant. But I WON'T let you do that. Right now, everyone in the world... I can feel their hearts beating as one. And we all have ONE goal." When she opened her non-patched eye again, it was burning with...

DETERMINATION.

"Human. No, WHATEVER you are. For the sake of the whole world... I, Undyne, will strike you down!" The screen whited out again, though Alphys knew what it really was this time. When the light subsided, she had upgraded armor which sparkled and shone, and her patched eye had her signature blue spear radiating from it. "You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT!"

Frisk readied their knife, eyes flashing with pleasure of being able to add another monster to their body count. The monster next to Alphys had stopped crying realizing that Undyne had saved him, but now stood shocked and motionless realizing that Undyne _did_ have the power to stop them.

She didn't know what Alphys did. Unable to watch her love interest fight against that beast, she began to move all the monsters to the True Labs. "Where are we going?"

"What's that smell?"

"Dr. Alphys, what is this place?"

Questions were thrown back and forth between monsters before she felt herself begin to snap. "Stop it!" She yelled, silencing all the monsters instantly. "Th-this... I-I have something to confess." She looked directly at the snowflake-like monster from earlier and Shyren. "Y-you know how many years ago, you sent your loved ones to me?"

"You said they were coming home!"

"I miss my daughter!"

"I want my wife back!"

"Stop! That's my confession. Th-they were beginning to revive, b-but then..." she looked down as soon as the elevator doors opened to reveal a very excited Amalgamate, Endogeny. "You're loved ones became these soon after," she continued, petting the Amalgamate. "I-I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. N-nobody knows about this area, not even Fri-the human. So... this is where you will stay until the human has been terminated."

Several hushed whispers were passed along the crowd, most involving Undyne saving them. Blinking away tears, she left the monsters in the True Labs to make sure Undyne was alright. The scene she walked in on almost made her wish she would've stayed down in True Labs.

She was looking down at her armor, pristine and perfect just minutes ago, now broken into pieces revealing several wounds. Tiny droplets were on her head, and Alphys had a feeling they weren't sweat. The human, however, other than being nearly painted in blood and dust, had not a visible wound, and she realized it must be all Undyne's.

"Damn it... So even THAT power... it wasn't enough...? Heh... Heheheh... If you... if you think I'm gonna give up hope, you're wrong. Cause I've... Got my friends behind me. Alphys told me that she would watch me fight you... And if anything went wrong, she would... evacuate everyone. By now, she's called ASGORE and told him to absorb the 6 human SOULs. And with that power..." Her armor was drooping heavily, her ponytail was deformed, and her arms and mouth dripped like a blue rainfall. "This world will live on...!" And with those last echoing words, she turned into a large cloud of dust, never again to be seen as the brave and powerful Undyne the Undying. Although Alphys should have called Asgore like she was told to, instead, she spent the rest of the week grieving deeply for her loss in her room.


	9. Chapter 9 Cooking With a Killer Robot

_**-Pacifist**_

ALPHYS updated status.

*just realized i didn't watch undyne fight the human v.v

Alphys was up in her own part of the lab shortly after the human, Chara, left. Although it _was_ her about to make the poor kid's life a nightmare because of the reactivated puzzles, she did send them with an upgraded phone and her best wishes. She was on her computer on Undernet, the Underground social website.

ALPHYS updated status.

*well i know she's unbeatable i'll just ask her abt it later ^.^

Although she worried for a few moments before she met Chara about Undyne being injured, the human that walked had participated in Mettaton's whole quiz show without hitting Mettaton- or Alphys- once, made her feel a bit better.

ALPHYS updated status.

*for now I gotta call up the human and guide them -^.^-

Although at first she meant to, she forgot, and went back to her dozens of other tabs up on the computer. She was jerked from her thoughts and went back on Undernet.

ALPHYS updated status.

*gonna call them in a minute! -^.^-

Then she wondered for several more seconds if she should've called the human a them. Wouldn't it be mean to do that? Then again, she reminded herself, it would be better to say 'them' instead of saying the wrong gender. Suddenly, her phone began to glitch out, and it took a few desk smashes to get it to work again.

ALPHYS updated status.

*I HATE USING THE PHONE I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS LMAO ^.^

Sighing, she finally began to type in each of the digits to their number. She stared blankly at the last digit. Oh, how she _hated_ phone calls ever since the incident with the Amalgamates and the chaos that followed. '

ALPHYS updated status.

*omg ive had my claw over the last digit for 5 minutes

*omg i'm just gonna do it

*i'm just gonna call!

Sighing again, she typed the last number. It rang once when Chara answered it, and she was somewhat impressed by how fast they could get to the phone.

"Uhh! H-hi, so, the blue lasers..." She broke off, wondering if the human even had caller ID on. If not, she may as well be calling a complete stranger. "Uhh! I mean, Alphys here! Hi! The blue lasers won't hurt you if you don't move! O-orange ones, um... Y-you have to be moving and they... they... won't... they won't, um..." she broke off again as her nervousness began to reclaim her, took a deep breath, and continued. Move through those ones! … Uhh, bye!" And, heart pounding, she hung up and leaned back in her chair, silently celebrating that she was able to have a phone call without having a panic attack.

ALPHYS updated status.

*OMG I DID IT!

*claws haven't shook like that since undyne called to ask me about the weather... v.v

Suddenly, in a flash, she thought of something.

ALPHYS updated status.

*WAIT THERE'S NO WEATHER DOWN HERE WHY DID SHE CALL ME

Her mind, obviously, was racing from so many possibilities. Shaking her head to clear it, she exited her computer tabs and ran down to check and make sure the lasers _she_ reactivated didn't hurt them. Luckily, they seemed to take her warnings to heart and easily dodged each one. Instantly losing the smile forming on her lips, she ran back up to Undernet.

ALPHYS updated status.

*Oh My God i Forgot to Tell Them Where To Go

And she only wondered for a few moments why she capitilized the beginning of every word but "I" and "to". Wanting to draw attention away from it, she sent a photo of a garbage can with glitter posted on it.

ALPHYS updated status.

*Cute PIC OF ME RIGHT NOW ^.^

Running back down to the lab, she noticed the human was in another puzzle, and decided to help a bit.

 _Ring..._

"Hey, Al-Alphys here! Th... the northern door will stay locked until you... s-solve the puzzles on the right and left! I... I think you sh-should g-g-go to the right first!" And before Chara could even reply, she hung up again. They looked even more confused than before.

ALPHYS updated status.

*wonder if it would be unfun if I explained the puzzle...

She thought for a moment, then her mind answered a 'naw' to that idea. Either that, or her mind was saying, 'naw' to the 'word' unfun'... Besides, surely the human can solve such a _simple_ puzzle, right? Much to her surprise, the human was able to finish it first try. A few moments later, however, she thought the human might need a bit of help again.

"Alphys! Here!" She exclaimed to tell Chara who it was... as if anyone else would call them. "Th-that blue laser seems totally impassible. B-b-but!" she continued before they could object. "As the Royal Scientist, I h-have some tricks up my sleeve. I'll h-hack into th-the Hotland laser database and take it out!" And with another click before Chara could even thank her, she hung up once more. Maybe she should be giving more time for them to explain their side of the story, but she threw away the idea. They _must_ get to the core safe and sound. If they didn't... she shuddered. She didn't want to be responsible for anyone's death.

ALPHYS updated status.

*Whatever. I'll just explain it.

She called them up again. "Uuuh, I think... Umm... Hey! About the puzzles on the left and right. They're a bit difficult to explain, but..." She noticed where the human was. "... uhhh, you already solved them? Awesome!" Hearing a faint chuckle from the other end, she hung up again.

A few moments later, the human nearly stumbled in a completely dark room and looked around, confused.

 _Ring..._

"H-hey, it's kind of dark in there, isn't it? Don't worry! I'll hack into the light system and brighten it up." She hurried to the main Hotland control again and followed a distress signal in the wiring to the room they were in and fixed the lights.

"Oh no."

They were in a kitchen-like area, a large counter top in the middle and several other appliances in a larger counter behind the first... and Mettaton appeared out of nowhere from behind, much to Chara's credit they didn't even flinch.

"OHHHH YES!" He cried gleefully. "WELCOME, BEAUTIES, TO THE UNDERGROUND'S PREMIER COOKING SHOW!"

In large letters, the phrase, "Cooking with a Killer Robot" was written in cursive in front of the counter they stood at, then slowly fizzled out in sparkles. "PRE-HEAT YOUR OVENS, BECAUSE WE'VE GOT A VERY SPECIAL RECIPE FOR YOU TODAY! WE'RE GOING TO BE MAKING..." Alphys leaned in, biting her lip. _Please don't try and kill Chara, please don't try and kill Chara..._

"A CAKE!"

She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and smiled slightly.

"MY LOVELY ASSITANT HERE WILL GATHER THE INGREDIENTS. EVERYONE GIVE THEM A BIG HAND!" Confetti showered over Chara as Mettaton clapped as though the entire Underground was too. "WE'LL NEED SUGAR, MILK, AND EGGS." He motioned towards the counter behind them, which had the three ingredients laying on it. "GO FOR IT SWEETHEART!"

Semi-reluctantly, Chara turned, casting a few suspicious glances at Mettaton, who was patiently awaiting them to find them all, then grabbed the three items and placed them on the table.

"PERFECT! GREAT JOB, BEAUTIFUL! WE'VE GOT ALL THE INGREDIENTS WE NEED TO BAKE THE CAKE! MILK... SUGAR... EGGS... OH MY! WAIT A MAGNIFICENT MOMENT! HOW COULD I FORGET! WE'RE MISSING THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT!"

Slowly, out of nowhere, Mettaton pulled out a chainsaw. "A HUMAN SOUL!" and slowly began inching his way towards Chara, who cast an anxious glance at the barrier blocking the way out, then at their phone as though they wanted someone to call them.

 _That's my cue,_ Alphys thought eagerly, reaching out her phone again, though she didn't call Chara this time.

 _Ring..._

Mettaton let out a robotic sigh and picked up his phone. "HELLO...? I'M KIND OF IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING HERE."

"W-wait a second!" she gasped, forcing her words to sound like they were quivering with fear, not excitement. "Couldn't you make a... Couldn't you use... Couldn't you make a substitution in the recipe?!"

Mettaton was silent for several moments. "... A SUBSTITUTION?" He echoed. "YOU MEAN, USE A DIFFERENT, NON-HUMAN INGREDIENT?" Silence for many more heartbeats. "WHY?"

"Uh, what if someone's... … Vegan?" She tried.

"... VEGAN?" He echoed again.

"Uh, well I-" 

"THAT'S A BRILLIANT IDEA, ALPHYS!"

She sighed happily.

"ACTUALLY, I HAPPEN TO HAVE AN OPTION RIGHT HERE! MTT-BRAND ALWAYS-CONVENIENT HUMAN-SOUL-FLAVOR-SUBSTITUTE! A CAN OF WHICH... IS JUST OVER ON THAT COUNTER!" He motioned energetically towards a place where the platform split off to a tiny counter with a red can placed conveniently on it. He turned expectantly to Chara. "WELL, DARLING? WHY DON'T YOU GO GET IT?"

Chara shook their head.

"WHAT'S THE MATTER? NOT A CAN FAN? THAT'S TOO BAD!" he added harshly. "MTT-BRAND USES ONLY THE FRESHEST ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS AND CHEMICALS." He said like it was a good thing.

Glaring daggers at Mettaton, Chara walked to the counter and was about to reach out their hand to grab the can when suddenly it sprung up and the counter began to rise steeply. Mettaton appeared from the right.

"BY THE WAY, THE SHOW IS ON A TIGHT SCHEDULE. IF YOU CAN'T GET THE CAN IN THE NEXT ONE MINUTE, WE'LL JUST HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE ORIGINAL PLAN!"

Sighing again, Alphys leaned back, in her pajamas now, munching on a bag of potato chips she got from who-knows-where. This was going to be a _very_ long day for Chara, wasn't it?

 _ **-Genocide**_

 __Alphys finally worked up the courage to leave the True Labs. It had been several weeks since Undyne died, and she still felt the pain, as raw as the day she watched her turn to dust. After halfheartedly checking her security cameras, she realized with a pang that now, everywhere she looked, there were piles of dust, either stuck in dips and cracks or blowing freely on the breeze, even still more so fresh they hadn't blown away yet. Frisk had already gone through her labs, and she hadn't seen Mettaton since.

She was startled to hear a knock at her door, and she expected, and hoped, to see Mettaton. She was becoming deeply worried for the ghost-turned-robot. Instead, she was shocked to see a different monster on her doorstep.

It was Sans.

Although she thought she knew every emotion a monster could show, she couldn't even begin to describe the swirl of them in the skeleton's eye socket. She had never, ever, seen anyone so serious, let alone Sans. He was looking down, though he seemed to be staring at one of the items he held. Two jars, one in each hand, both filled with dust. One had a red scarf wrapped around it, and the other had a helmet on the top of it.

When he finally looked up at her, his pupils were gone, and he wordlessly shoved the two jars into Alphys's grasp. "Y-your alive!" She exclaimed shakily, afraid of dropping them but happy to see at least someone survived.

But he didn't listen. Instead, he pushed past her inside and turned around and watched her, his gaze wavering. "watch them for me, would ya'?" he asked, his words showing every bit of desperation he felt. "i..." his voice faltered, and he rested his gaze on the scarf before looking at her again. "i thought i could protect them... but now..." he took a deep breath. "i'm fighting the human," he announced.

"Y-you can't! Y-you'll die too!"

"not if i can help it," he stared at the scarf again for many more minutes. "i... i promise gaster i would make sure nothing happened to him..."

She understood in a flash. By the time Sans had gotten there, Papyrus was probably already a pile of dust, and now she held his remains. That must mean... her throat tightened up in grief... that the other jar contained Undyne's ashes.

She looked back up to him to comfort him, but he didn't return her gaze. "Why do you think you can defeat them?"

He was silent for many moments, and when he looked back, his left eye socket burning with an intense blue flame. "because i have determination."

She gasped in terror. "You didn't!" 

"i had to," he whispered sadly.

"D-don't you know what it does to monsters?"

"of course i know. gaster and king asgore and i visited the true labs during your determination experiments. that's how i knew where to go. look, alphys. i just need you to keep them safe while i challenge the human. maybe..." his voice faltered. "maybe they're just confused? maybe papyrus was right..."

Although she opened her mouth to say more, in an instant, Sans had disappeared, leaving her with most likely the two greatest monsters ever known.


	10. Chapter 10 Oh! One True Love

_**-Pacifist**_

 __"Oh my love, Please run away, Monster King, forbids your stay. Humans must, Live far apart, Even if, it breaks my heart. They'll put you, In the dungeon. It'll suck, and then you'll die a lot. Really sad, You're gonna die, Cry cry cry, So, sad it's happening." Mettaton sang to a not-very-amused Chara. He wore a white dress and was faking a sad expression as he gazed at them.

Alphys could almost swear they were begging him for mercy.

Mettaton suddenly sprang into speech as though he really was in a play. "SO SAD. SO SAD THAT YOU ARE GOING TO THE DUNGEON. WELL, TOODLES!" The floor opened up under Chara and they fell, not even seeming the slightest bit surprised anymore. "OH NO! WHATEVER SHALL I DO? MY LOVE HAS BEEN CAST AWAY INTO THE DUNGEON. A DUNGEON WITH A PUZZLE SO DASTARDLY, MY PARAMOUR WITH SURELY PARISH! O, HEAVENS HAVE MERCY!" He put his arm over his head, a symbol of grief. "THE HORRIBLE COLORED TILE MAZE! EACH COLORED TILE HAS ITS OWN SADISTIC FUNCTION."

"Wait... sadistic?" Chara spoke to quietly for Mettaton to hear over his ranting.

"FOR EXAMPLE, A GREEN TILE WILL SOUNDS A NOISE, AND THEN YOU MUST FIGHT A MONSTER. RED TILES WILL... ACTUALLY, WAIT A SECOND. DIDN'T WE SEE THIS PUZZLE ABOUT A HUNDRED ROOMS AGO?"

Alphys let out a chuckle, remembering Papyrus plaguing Chara with dozens of puzzles, this being one of them.

"THAT'S RIGHT. YOU REMEMBER ALL THE RULES, DON'T YOU? GREAT... THEN I WON'T WASTE MY TIME REPEATING THEM! OH, AND YOU'D BETTER HURRY. BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T GET THROUGH IN 30 SECONDS... YOU'LL BE INCINERATED BY JETS OF FIRE! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHA... HA... HA! MY POOR LOVE! I'M SO FILLED WITH GRIEF, I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING!" Mettaton stifled another laugh. "GOOD LUCK, DARLING!"

Alphys no longer worried about Mettaton killing them. He had payed her a visit not too long ago telling her exactly what he was going to do up to the Core. Despite this, however, it didn't make the song any less annoying.

"Oh my love, Has fallen down, Now in tears, We all will drown. Colored tiles, Make them a fool, If only they, Still knew the rules. Well that was, A sorry try, Now let's watch, Them fry."

Much to Alphys's- and Mettaton's- surprise, Chara actually made it through the whole maze. However, she noticed Mettaton didn't seem fazed by this turn of events. Shrugging, she glanced back at her computer, ready to deactivate the flames.

"CONGRATULATIONS! YOU MADE IT THROUGH THE PUZZLE! AND NOW, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, THE FLAMES BE DEACTIVATED! NO! MORE! FIRE!"

But Alphys wasn't listening anymore. She was staring intently at the screen, waiting for the flames to appear and fumbling with her phone. "...BUT IT'S AS THE PHRASE GOES. 'OUT OF THE FIRE, AND INTO THE FRYING PAN.' THAT'S RIGHT DARLING! EVEN IF YOU MANAGE TO BEAT THE HEAT... YOU'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO WITHSTAND MY HOT METAL BODY! PREPARE YOURSELF FOR MY-"

 _Ring... ring..._

"Watch out!" She cried. "I'll save you! Flames, deactivate!" She went to click the button, but it said the flames were already off. "... … huh?"

Mettaton let out a robotic sigh. "THE HUMAN FINISHED THE PUZZLE. I ALREADY TURNED OFF THE FLAMES. IN FACT, I WAS ABOUT TO FIGHT THE HUMAN."

"Wh-wh-what?" She didn't even fully comprehend what just happened. "TH-THAT puzzle? I mean, uhh... Great job! We've got him on the ropes now!"

Mettaton chuckled. "ON THE ROPES? HA! I ONLY DEACTIVATED THE FLAMES KNOWING THAT ALPHYS WOULD HAVE ANYWAY. …"

 _Did Mettaton just give us away_? She thought desperately, letting out a sigh of relief as Chara didn't seem to catch on.

"NOW, WHERE WERE WE? OH YES. I WAS GOING TO ERADICATE YOU!" 

The phone signal cut off abruptly. Biting her lip, she fumbled again to tell Chara how to defeat him.

 _Ring... ring..._

"H-hey! Th-this seems bad, but don't worry! Th-there's one last thing I installed on your phone...!" 

Chara gave every possible for the camera a, 'You know, after bomb defuser, jetpack, and random connection to storage boxes, I'm not surprised' look.

"You see that yellow button...?" She pressed, pretending she didn't see the look. "Go to this phone's [ACT] menu and press it!"

With a last look at every possible camera spot (Chara still couldn't find the camera), they pressed it.

"Now press "Z"!" She ordered, hoping the directions would get through to them.

Suddenly, a bullet shot from the phone and hit Mettaton, harmlessly bouncing off of his body, but he cringed like it hurt. "OOOH! OOOOOOOH! YOU'VE DEFEATED ME!" He cried. "HOW CAN THIS BE, YOU WERE STRONGER THAN I THOUGHT, ETC. WHATEVER."

And with that, Mettaton disappeared from the screen. With a content smile, Alphys was finally able to lean back and relax. _What was the next thing I'm supposed to do...?_ She wondered. "Right!" She exclaimed aloud. "T-To the Core!"

 _ **-Genocide**_

 __ _I must get to Sans!_ Alphys thought desperately. She felt tears forming in her eyes and falling down her cheeks, and she gripped Undyne's and Papyrus's ashes tighter. She knew he would follow them soon.

 _"because i have determination..."_ She could almost hear his words again, and shivered. _Even if he defeats Frisk, he'll melt! I have to stop him!_

But how? Sans had given her these ashes to protect them, so was she really going to betray Sans's trust and abandon them? _I have no choice..._

Closing her eyes and stifling another stream of tears, she made her way to the elevator leading down to the True Labs. She couldn't help but glance at the dusty footprints and hand prints she was too terrified to remove from when Frisk had made their way through there.

She knew who could protect them should she not come back.

"Flayke!" She called into the labs through the evacuated monsters.

A couple turned to look at her, but most were too depressed to even care anymore. "Flayke!"

Finally, the crowd parted to make way for a partially melted Snowflake monster, next to her her son, Snowy, and her husband. Both looked happy to be with her again, but their gazes empty and hunted all the same.

"A-Alphys?" She whispered. Although Alphys believed that just about any of the Amalgamates could do the job, Flayke was the most like her old self than the other ones and must gentler.

Snowy's eyes drifted to the two jars, his gaze turned even more horrified and he stepped back.

"I... I need you to do something for me..." She didn't reply, and Alphys bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. "Please," she choked. "I-I need to do something."

Blinking slowly, Flayke gently grabbed the two jars and held them, her gaze soft.

"I knew I could count on you," Alphys murmured softly.

With a final glance at them, she took off towards the Core, hoping to catch up to Sans before Frisk did. She had to stop for breath at a large room, the ceiling high and the door ajar. Frisk had been this way. She fell to her knees, feeling the dusty ground. Just ahead, she saw something.

Crawling forward, she picked up a piece of broken wing.

 _No, no, no, no!_ She thought wretchedly, tracing the parts to Mettaton NEO, his original form, beaten, dented, destroyed. She ran her fingers shakily over the metal. _How could this be!?_

"Alphys?" A quiet voice sounded from behind her, and she just managed to collect herself enough to turn and see a ghost floating behind her.

"Hapstablook?" She croaked.

"Alphys... I... I'm sorry," she murmured. Her gaze was so filled with grief that she looked more like her cousin, Napstablook.

"You didn't do anything, Hap," Alphys promised her.

"You're right... I should've done something..."

"But... if you don't mind me asking... how are you alive?"

She looked away. "You can't kill a ghost," she answered.

"I've been worried sick about you."

"I know you have. But... you're not here for me. You're here for Sans, aren't you? No... you're here for your own piece of revenge."

"If I know anything about Sans, he'll make them regret everything. But... you're right. Even with Sans's immense power... he's no match for Frisk..."

"Go to him," Hapstablook urged. "Run as fast as you can. Don't look back." She looked away. "You got your wish, now," her voice turned to a hushed whisper.

"What's that?" She demanded.

"For once, Alphys, it's _your_ turn to be the hero."


End file.
